1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to trays, and more particularly to a collapsible tray adapted for mounting upon a railing. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a hanging table assembly for supporting a table which can be quickly and easily attached to a wall or railing in a removable manner. In an exemplary embodiment the support assembly is particularly adapted for use over a railing type structure, on a steering wheel, or on a partially lowered car window. It should be appreciated however, that the assembly of the present invention may be attached to other structures such as a boat railing, porch railing, balcony railing, chain link fence railing, and over the tailgate of a pickup truck. It is also envisioned that the assembly of the present invention can also be attached to walls as well as to railings. The present invention also includes a method of fabricating a collapsible tray assembly adapted for suspension from a railing edge.
2. Background of the Invention
In our ever increasingly mobile society, people are forced to spend increasing amounts of time in their vehicles which are forced to serve as mobile offices and dining areas for such road warriors. With the advent of drive-through restaurants, many people consume beverages and foods while sitting behind a steering wheel of a parked motor vehicle. A tray adapted for mounting in a vehicle, either from a steering wheel, a partially lowered window, or any suitable railing area, can provide a convenient holder for beverages and foods. Such a tray, for convenience, needs to be easily adaptable to the many different types of available mounting railings. For a non-limiting example, such a tray must be adapted if it is to be mounted on a steering wheel, to accommodate steering wheels having different sizes, shapes, and angles of inclination. Further, it needs to be easily storable in a small place within a motor vehicle, such as a glove compartment or a storage compartment under a seat, or in the alternative, to be sufficiently inexpensive to be discarded after use.
Various trays which can be mounted upon a steering wheel have been developed. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,606 discloses a car tray having a pair of table sections, joined together via spring loaded hinges. The table sections are foldable toward and away from each other into a plurality of selectable positions via the hinges. Although the tray provides adjustability of a tray top with respect to steering wheel inclination, the construction of the tray is complicated by the utilization of the hinges. Further, the tray is bulky, making the car tray difficult to store in a car and expensive to manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,581 discloses a steering wheel tray which can be pivotally mounted on a steering wheel. The tray is suspended from a back panel by straps. The inclination of the tray relative to the steering wheel is adjusted by changing the length of the straps; an operation which requires the straps to be bunched together and brass brads to be inserted through slits in the straps. Since there are a finite number of slits, the adjustment capability of the tray is limited to a limited number of set positions. Further, the adjustability of the inclination of the tray is time-consuming because of the need first to bunch the straps and then insert the brads through the bunched straps.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,211,962 discloses a serving tray having a body, a U-shaped bail hingedly attached at opposite ends thereof to the body, and a pair of upright braces on the body. The braces include notched marginal portions for releasable interlocking engagement with legs of the bail such that the body and the bail are adjustable relative to each other. Because the braces are not retractable and the bail is relatively large, the tray cannot be conveniently stored in an automobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,421 issued to Apichom titled Tray Adapted for Mounting on a Steering Wheel discloses another tray adapted for mounting upon a steering wheel. The tray is comprised of a series of interlocking panels, one of which has an upwardly extending tab adapted to wrap around a top portion of a steering wheel and engage a slot on a panel to hold the tab in a locked configuration around the top portion of the wheel, thereby suspending the tray from the steering wheel. This structure is limited to those steering wheels having a structure whose upper portion is sufficiently open to allow wrapping a tab around its upper portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,026 to Seibert discloses a motor vehicle tray adapted for mounting on a steering wheel of a motor vehicle that has a support panel for supporting an article thereon and a main body panel connected to the support panel for suspending the support panel outwardly from the steering wheel at an angle. Side panels, which extend outwardly from the main body panel, are releasably attached to the support panel in such a manner as to permit the angle between the support panel and the steering wheel to be adjustable. Once again, this structure requires an accommodating steering wheel structure that will allow the upper part of the tray assembly to encircle the upper portion of the steering wheel. This invention is then once again dependent upon the type of steering wheel construction and size for its successful use.
All of these known tray assemblies incorporate structures that are limited in scope to being mounted on the steering wheel of an automobile. The table assembly of the present invention differs from known table assemblies in that it is designed to be compact and capable of being supported on a railing such as that created by a partially lowered automobile window, as well as on an automobile's steering wheel, and is further characterized by increased stability, convenience in use, economy of manufacture and storage.